Jacobs chooses insider for Orange jail chief

A 32-year corrections veteran was picked Tuesday to take the helm of the Orange County Jail.

Deputy Chief of Operations Cornita Riley replaces former Chief Michael Tidwell, who retired in the wake of a scandal involving home confinement.

"Cornita Riley has precisely the right mix of skills, dedication and good judgment necessary for this position," Mayor Teresa Jacobs said in a statement about the appointment. "Under Chief Riley's leadership, we will become one of the most accountable systems in the nation."

Riley was not singled out in a pair of internal investigations of the jail's home-confinement program.

The Orlando Sentinel disclosed in February that Ocoee home-invasion defendant Bessman Okafor had violated his curfew several times while on home-confinement monitoring.

None of those violations was reported to a judge, and during an unauthorized outing in September 2012, authorities said Okafor shot three people, two of whom were scheduled to testify against him at trial. One, Alex Zaldivar, died.

Riley will be in charge of about 1,700 guards and corrections staff who monitor 3,100 inmates and about 6,000 others on probation, pretrial release, or in diversion and community-service programs. She emerged from a national search of 100 candidates. Tidwell had an annual salary of about $151,000, and Riley is expected to receive close to that. But the amount has not been made final, an official said.

"This will be an organization that operates on the principles of measured outcomes, business practices and accountability," Riley said in a statement.

Jacobs said Riley, who has worked in Orange's jail system for the past 14 years, could best handle the reforms needed in the home-confinement program.

"Ms. Riley is fully aware of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead," Jacobs wrote.